Nikita slept most of the flight and for what parts of it she was awake, she stared out the window, not even bothering to look at, let alone acknowledge, Michael. Once they were through customs and had their luggage, Nikita lead them out of the airport to pick up their rental car. She never made it that far.

Even with the rest from the plane ride, her body was still rebelling against her control. Michael caught her as she swayed. He carried her to a cab- he'd come back for the car later- and gave the cabbie the name of a small B & B over an hour away.

"Michael! What a pleasant surprise!" The B and B owner smiled in greeting.

Nikita wondered where they were. ""Michael, where are we?" Her voice was soft.

Michael stared down at her warmly, "In my arms."

Nikita couldn't help a smile as she rolled her eyes. "Ever the confident one." she muttered as she began to struggle out of his arms. Michael obliged but kept an arm around her waist.

"I am Rowan. I own the Blackburne Breakfast." The woman smiled at Nikita and offered a hand.

Nikita's smile broadened, enchanted with the woman as she shook her hand. "Nikita O'Rourke." It was the first time she had used her true name in years- even before the Section. "My mother's father's father was half Irish. It is a lovely place, Rowan."

"Come dear, I'll show you the rest!" Rowan like the younger woman immediately. She had an air of sweetness and compassion about her- a good match for the dark angel Michael.

Michael's arm tightened around Nikita's waist. "In a bit, Rowan. Nikita is still recovering and needs some rest." He announced.

"Nonsense, Michael! I am fine now." Nikita glared over at him.

But Rowan noted how pale the woman was- and how tired her eyes looked. "No, dear, Michael, for once, is right. You do need rest. After supper I will show you around." She promised. "Same rooms, Michael."

Nikita hesitated at the words.

Michael swore silently.

Rowan turned away- hiding a smile. Nikita would find out soon enough what she had meant.

"Suite of rooms." Nikita laughed. "Rowan sees too well."

"It's good to hear you laugh again, Nikita." Michael stated softly.

"You avoided me for two full days, Michael. It only seemed fair." Nikita shrugged, then smiled. "I really am better, Michael."

Michael's eyes clouded over. "I wish you hadn't done my mission, Nikita."

"Why, Michael? Why do you wish I hadn't done the mission?" She asked softly, wishing that he would answer her for once instead of dodging her questions.

Michael closed his eyes. When he opened them, he knew he would tell her the truth- he owed her that much. "Because I can't stand to see you in such pain. Because I care what happens to you." He whispered the words as he stepped closer to her.

"And because you believe you failed yet another person who depends on you." Nikita breathed and wrapped her arms around his waist as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I did." He choked as his arms snaked around her, pulling her tighter to him.

Nikita raised her head to stare into his eyes. "Michael, listen to me. I depend on you, yes. I care for you, more than you know. You disappoint me, you lie to me, yes to both at times. You failed me? Never! If you failed me, Michael, I would have been canceled long ago. You could never fail me, Michael." She whispered and brushed a soft kiss across his lips. "Michael, hold me. Please, just hold me while I sleep." she asked drowsily.

He lifted her up and placed her on the bed. After he took her shoes off and grabbed a blanket to cover them, he laid down beside her and lifted her onto his chest and covered them. He, too, closed his eyes and allowed sleep to come.

It was the gentle smoothing of his shirt by her fingers that woke him hours later.

She smiled as his hand trapped her roaming fingers. Lifting her head to look at him, she whispered, "Looks like I wasn't the only one who needed rest."

He chuckled softly. "I guess not. You hungry?"

Nikita smiled. "When am I not, Michael?"

"Hmm. Good question." He earned a poke in the ribs for that remark.

"Michael, how does Rowan know you?" Nikita asked softly.

Michael smiled at the curiosity she couldn't hide. "She was my mother's great aunt." He chuckled at the confusion that entered her gorgeous blue eyes. "The Section has no idea about her."

She smiled. "I like her."

"I thought you might." Michael kissed the top of her head. "Now, can we get up and go eat?"

Nikita laughed. "Super Michael needs food, huh? I guess we must get up and feed him!" And she got up- a little too quickly.

"Nikita." Michael whispered her name as he raised himself to sit beside her.

"You shouldn't have given me the sedative, Michael. I didn't need it."

"Madeline thought you would. She told me about your day yesterday." Michael replied. "I didn't know until later that she put one on you or where it was."

"I'm sorry."

"We all are." Michael whispered in reply.

"Rowan, come on in." Nikita smiled.

"Hungry, dears?" Rowan smiled back at her.

Michael shook his head. He had been too focused on Nikita; he hadn't even heard Rowan get close!

"Michael dragged me down here for food." Nikita announced, her eyes laughing.

Rowan's laughter echoed in the kitchen. "Yes, the boy is aggressive when hungry." She nodded and moved to the oven. "I kept a couple plates warm for you two. Are you feeling better, Nikita?"

"Mmm." Nikita savored a bite before answering. "Much better. The drugs finally wore off. I really hate sedatives. This is excellent, Rowan!"

"Thank you. Now, how long will you two be staying?"

Nikita shrugged and looked over to Michael as she continued eating.

"A couple days. We have three weeks and I have been ordered to show Nikita my favorite places in Ireland." Michael answered.

"Good. It has been too long since you've been on the isle for a vacation. Drop me a line, Michael, every now and again. Nikita, feel up to that tour? Michael can take care of the dishes." Rowan smiled when she noticed Nikita was done with her plate.

Nikita chuckled as she handed her dish to Michael. Michael doing the dishes- what a thought!

They were half way through the tour when Nikita froze. She took a sharp breath, closed her eyes and willed the pain to recede. She had thought Rowan was ahead of her.

"Shall I get Michael? You are in pain, Nikita." Rowan whispered to her, worried.

Nikita stood quickly. Rowan's suggestion did what her mind hadn't done fast enough- put the pain behind her. "No!" She cried. "NO! Michael can not know."

Rowan looked at the fear in the young woman's eyes and nodded. "I will not mention it but you cannot hide it from him for long. He loves you, Nikita. He will know soon enough."

"Not before the final step!" She breathed softly.

"Where is Nikita, Rowan?" Michael asked as Rowan returned to the kitchen alone.

"I left her in library." Rowan smiled. "She wanted to choose a couple books on local legends. She's a wonderful young woman, Michael. There is a light that encompasses her but I see a darkness enter her eyes every once in a while. Keep her close, Michael, do not lose this one." Rowan warned him before she headed to her own room.

"Michael, can we go to Stonehenge?" Nikita asked when he entered the library in search of her.

"That tourist trap?" Michael laughed. "I suppose so. When would you like to go?"

Nikita smiled. "A couple days. I'd like to get to know Rowan. Besides, this is a vacation. You are supposed to enjoy it, Michael."

Michael shook his head with a smile. "I am enjoying it, Nikita. How is Thursday then?"

"Be careful, Nikita. You are playing a very dangerous game." Rowan whispered to her as they said their goodbyes early Thursday morning.

Nikita left Michael in the hotel room sleeping. It was time for the meeting- the final step in the mission Michael thought had been completed.

With rain pouring down, not many tourists were at Stonehenge- a blessing. Nikita watched as the man approached. She smiled in greeting.

The man returned the smile and brought her closer for a kiss. "My dear, you look wonderful. That green really is your color."

Nikita smiled and withdrew from the man. As she stepped back, pain seared through her.

"My dear, did you honestly believe I would not find out?" The man laughed sinisterly.

He stopped laughing as the bullet entered him.

Nikita tilted her head up to the sky and began to try to control her breathing. As the pain began to recede, she lowered her head and saw another figure approaching.

"Michael." Nikita whispered. She collapsed as he spotted her, turned from her and walked away.

"Rowan, where are you going?" Michael asked as he arrived back at her B and B before Friday's dawn.

"I have to go to the hospital." Rowan announced and slammed her car door.

Michael froze. "What is wrong, Rowan?"

Rowan glared, "Get in the car now!" She ordered.

"How could you leave her there? Hurting like that?" Rowan demanded as they entered Nikita's room.

"She was fine- standing over the body." Michael gave his weak defense.

"Did I say she would be gasping and screaming in pain? She's like you- holding it inside, out of the sight of others! She sure as hell ain't in for that shallow knife wound the bastard gave her! What the hell has that girl been through?" Rowan glared at him.

Michael stared down at Nikita.

"Let him go, Rowan." Nikita whispered, reaching out to stop her new friend.

"He-"

"No. I will deal with this my own way." Nikita sighed. "I didn't do this for him, Rowan, and he doesn't know that."

Rowan smiled. "I know."

"He needs to spend a while at your place. He still has two weeks- make him stay. Walter is coming to get me later today. I'll spend a few more days in Medlab." Nikita sighed.

"I regretted doing it all of these years but it was and, I still believe, is the safest for all. One day he will know, Nikita." Rowan whispered, unshed tears pooling in her eyes.

"I understand, Rowan. Take good care of him."

"Nikita, what are you doing out of Medlab?" Operations demanded- it had only been a day since she had returned. "Where is Michael?"

"Michael is on a two week break where you need not know, Ops. There is nothing left for Medlab to do to or for me. I want answers, Ops, and I am prepared to wait you out."

Operations stared at her.

She waited, he stared, for over an hour before he realized how serious she was.

"Before Simone was captured, there was an attempt made to take the boy. Rowan suggested this as an alternative- a safe one for everyone involved."

"And it allowed you yet another way to rid the goodness from Michael, so you jumped at it!" Nikita snarled.

Operations had the decency not to deny her statement. "Rowan took the boy and told him his mother and father had been killed. I agreed also because unknown to Michael and Simone, that had been the fourth attempt on the boy's life."

"Why did you show me the boy?"

"You wouldn't have lied to Michael convincingly if it was only his life at stake. Madeline knows nothing of the boy. Rowan and I are the only two." Operations admitted.

"It will be at least a month before I am ready for any real action again, Ops." And Nikita left his office.

"Rowan, why didn't she tell me the mission wasn't over?"

"Because you never asked? I don't know, Michael. I don't know. There is something I do know about Nikita, Michael. She loves you very much. She risked everything for this mission. Her life, her heart, but most of all, her soul. She lied to you and used you, Michael, for the good of the Section. All is not as it seems, Michael. She wanted you to remain here for these two weeks. Please stay, relax, think and feel." Rowan smiled at the young man she had known for so long.

"You handled the mission very well, Nikita. You even lied to Michael and he didn't realize the deception. Very good."

"Thank you, Madeline." Nikita sat in her office four days later.

"My only question is why didn't you wait until you were healed?"

"I couldn't lie to Michael much longer." Nikita was honest.

Madeline nodded. She didn't know what to make of Nikita's recent actions: her ability to hide the pain, lie to Michael, and kill so easily. Something was different; there was a depressed air around the young woman. There was a new bleakness in her eyes. Madeline worried about it and Nikita. She was a good contrast to Michael- or she had been. Madeline was concerned that maybe that Nikita was gone.

After her session with Nikita, Madeline went to talk with Operations. "She is surviving but I worry about the bleakness that has entered her eyes. Something is depressing her. And she is right, there must be at least a month before she is fully capable of another mission." Madeline reported.

Operations nodded. "The bleakness will leave her when Michael returns and the depression will be eased when Michael realizes she, like he in the past, had no choice but to deceive him."

Madeline nodded. "I know. Does Michael know of Rowan's involvement with the Section yet?"

"No. She forbids it. I feel she is right on this, Madeline." Operations turned from his window to look at her. "He needs that connection to the outside world without any taints."

"I agree but does Nikita?" Madeline asked.

Operations' eyes narrowed for a second. "She will do what she feels right on the matter. All we can do is hope she does what we all feel is best."

Madeline smiled. "Don't let them hear you use that word. There is no hope in Section One."

Operations laughed. "Or so they believe. Nikita knows better than all of us that there is hope- even in the darkest of places."

"Rowan, how badly was she injured when we arrived?" Michael asked before he got in the rental car.

Rowan smiled. "Seriously. She was seriously injured. On the tour, I found her bent over from the pain. She made me swear not to tell you then. She whispered something about a final step. I take it now that Stonehenge was that step. It was then that I told her what I saw in your eyes, what I still see in your eyes- you love her." She held up a hand to stop his words. "You may deny it, Michael, but your heart, as well as Nikita's, knows that I am correct. Go to her, Michael, help her get over the pain- help her heal her heart as well as her body."

"I know you are home, Nikita! Open the door! Carla told me you haven't been out of here in two days!" Michael demanded. He didn't want to resort to keying into the apartment.

All he heard was a barely audible "Michael" before he gave up and keyed himself into her apartment.

He found her sprawled on the floor semiconscious. He was kneeling beside her in a flash. Her pulse was steady but weak and her breathing- well- she was breathing. "Nikita, what is it?" he asked her, worried.

"Michael, you have to go. Table there's directions. You have to get to it within two days or I can no longer help you. Please, Michael, go!" Nikita's may have lacked volume but her desperation and conviction more than made up for it. Her eyes pleaded with him to go.

Michael shook his head. It could wait, he was sure of it, until she was better. "No. You need to get-" But she cut him off with a violent shake of her head.

Nikita grabbed a fist full of his shirt and pulled him closer to her. "NO! Michael, please, if you care for me at all, you will take the directions and go now! Walter will come soon. Please, Michael, you will understand when you get there. Leave, Michael, please!" She begged him at the end.

Michael stared at her and realized how far she would go to make him leave. He nodded his head, picked her up, placed her on the couch, kissed her cheek, grabbed the directions and left.

The directions took him to a small upstate New York community settled in the Adirondacks, Tupper Lake. The scenery was beautiful, but Michael didn't see any of it as he approached the address written in Nikita's hand. She had brought him to a school- why?

Ten minutes later, when a group of kids came out, presumably for recess, Michael froze. He gasped at the sight before him- his son alive! He understood Nikita's desperation to get him there. But how had she found out? Why had she found out? Why had she let him know? Obviously he wasn't supposed to know his son's whereabouts. And why was she so determined to get him there as soon as possible?

He watched the children- focusing on the miniature of himself until they went inside again. Michael remained where he was, his mind still not functioning.

He returned the next day and watched.

Michael came again for the third day only to find that his son did not come out. Another day went by without the little boy he sought and he finally understood Nikita's urgency- she had known that they would be moving the boy again.

Operations knew as soon as Michael entered Section One. He met him at Madeline's door. "No, Michael. This is between you and I, not Madeline."

Michael stared at the older man. He didn't see the war in the older man's eyes, the resignation, nor the pain and the distance. He only saw his own hatred towards the man and the organization that had kept him from his son. Still, he followed Operations into his office.

Operations pulled out four files and handed them to Michael. "There is nothing I could say that you will believe. I doubt that you will even believe these files. They are a truth, Michael, but if you want your own truth, talk to Nikita. Trust her words. As for another truth, Madeline has no idea about your son. Two of us covered it up and Nikita is the only other one with the information besides my self and the other original person. And, Michael, for what is worth, and I know not much, I am sorry. If there had been another way. . ." Operations let the sentence trail off. His voice even sounded old, but Michael didn't hear it, he was half way out the door.

"Operations, where did Michael go? I wanted to ask him about Nikita." Madeline stopped in his office an hour later.

"He went home." Operations sighed.

Madeline looked at him more closely. Something was wrong. "What is it?" She asked him directly.

Operations gave her a small smile but remained quiet.

Madeline had almost given up he would talk when the words began to spill from him. She was shocked. She was hurt because he hadn't involved her, but she also understood why she had been left out- Michael had sought her to talk at times, nothing could hurt that relationship. She sympathized with the man- another decision he had to make that would hurt the operative he cared for the most. She also understood that Operations saw killing Michael's son and hiding the boy as another manifestation of his relationship with his own son- he had to hide him to protect him as well, never knowing the man he had grown to be or the boy he had left behind.

Michael went to his apartment first and tossed the files. But as time wore on, he picked them up and began to read them.

He was sitting in the little alcove his bay window made, staring at the stars, wondering how he could not have known about the attempts on his own son's life. He didn't agree with Operations and the other person's actions, but like all Section One actions, he was beginning to rationalize the reason behind it. He wondered how Nikita was and how she had come to find out.

Had that been the reason for her to take the mission? Had her swiping the file and "taking" his mission been her mission all along?

It had to be, he realized, there was no other way about it. Protecting his son had to be the reason she had lied to him so well and why she had done the mission in the first place, using him to protect his son he never knew was still alive.

He stood, gathered the files and headed to her apartment.

She hadn't moved from the couch. Her clothes were the same. She had lied to him again! No one had seen to her in his absence!

"Damn you, Nikita!" He swore softly as he picked her up and carried her out to his car. He drove to Section, ignoring the speed limit and the dangers of being picked up by the police.

Madeline found him in Nikita's room as the doctors examined her. She stood beside him quietly. He didn't even acknowledge her.

Operations watched from a surveillance camera and swore. She wasn't supposed to be so injured. His watching was interrupted by a call.

"She is in Medlab, Rowan. No one knows what is wrong. He left her to see his son four days ago. I have the feeling that she lied to him to get him to go and that she was in bad shape when he left her. There is nothing I can do." Operations closed his eyes and listened to Rowan's reply. "No, don't come over. He needs you free of Section. It would be too great a betrayal if he found out now. She won't tell him."

"Her body just seems to need to shut down for a while. We'll monitor her closely but we just have to wait and see. She's been under such stress lately that I think that her body just gave out. She refused Medlab treatment when she returned from Ireland except for a minimal examination. She refused to stay for an observation period, leaving immediately for her own apartment." the doctor explained to Michael and Madeline.

Madeline nodded to the man and he left. They were alone in the room with Nikita now. "Michael, I know you feel betrayed right now- finding that Operations has lied about your son for seven years now and that you feel responsible because you left her alone in her apartment, but you have to remember that Nikita wanted you to know the truth. It isn't your fault that she is in Medlab." Madeline whispered to him.

Michael nodded to her and went to Nikita's side. He lifted her hand in his and smiled down at her. She looked so peaceful.

Madeline had an intern bring in a chair for Michael before she left.

"How is she, Madeline?" Operations asked her over the phone.

Madeline was shocked at the tiredness in his voice. "Her body needed the rest. She didn't really go to Medlab when she returned from Ireland. I believe she will be fine in a while. She'll survive."

Operations hated to ask. "And Michael?"

Madeline shook her head at the pain in his voice. "He is beginning to understand. I believe he knows the files you gave him are the truth. He is too worried about Nikita right now to really deal with that."

Operations sighed. "I should have told him years ago." Madeline heard before the line went dead.

"Michael, did you see him?" Was the first thing Nikita whispered when she woke up two days later.

Michael smiled. "Yes, dearheart, I did. Thank you, but next time, don't lie to me."

Nikita smiled. "Next time, don't argue with me and I won't lie to you. Michael, I agree with Operations, it was the safest thing to do. It hurt him, Michael, keeping you from your son. He sees it as keeping away from his own son. Believe it or not, Michael, Operations didn't do it just to bring you closer to the darkness. He did it to you to save your son, and in a way, to save his own son."

"Nikita." Operations' voice halted her words.

She shook her head. "No, Operations, not this time. I know that I hit you with all my resentment and anger for this one and I know now that you didn't deserve it. I had forgotten about Steve, it's been over three years since I helped him for you. You both know how hard it is to have a son outside of Section."

Michael stared at the older man- he too had a son?

"How are you feeling, Nikita?" Operations came to stand on the other side of her bed.

Nikita looked a little guilty as she smiled. "Better. I know, Ops, I know. I should have been in Medlab when I first came back from Ireland but I wasn't feeling that bad then. It just hit me all at once."

"Next time, Nikita, I will personally see to it that you remain in Medlab. And if you lie to me again, I'll put you in observation for the hell of it, clear?" Operations eyes narrowed.

Nikita nodded. "I understand."

The interchange brought a smile to Michael's lips. He let it slide away when he raised his head to look at Operations. "Who was the other operative?"

Operations stared at him. There was no way he could answer that.

Nikita rescued him. "Michael, that is something that you simply cannot learn right now. You have enough to assimilate, don't take on more than you can handle."

Michael stared down at her and Operations used that to slip away.

"Please, Michael, let that one go for now." Nikita asked of him.

"I can't." he whispered. "I need to know."

"Neither he nor I can tell you. I am sorry, Michael. I promised as did he." Nikita shook her head sorrowfully.

"But I can." A voice spoke from the doorway.

Michael's grip on Nikita's had tightened until she winced as the snapping of bone could be heard echoing through the room.

Rowan looked at Nikita before she turned her focus to Michael. "I am sorry, Michael."

Michael shook his head. He couldn't believe this.

"Michael, talk with her." Nikita implored him.

He nodded, needing to understand this.

"What happened to your hand?" Madeline asked when she, Walter, and Birkoff came to visit Nikita an hour later.

"It's a long story. Does Operations know?" Nikita shrugged the cast on her hand off as nothing.

"Know what?" Madeline asked with a smile.

"Operations knows." Walter spoke up then. "Rowan came out of his office before she came here."

Birkoff was confused. "Who is Rowan and what are you three talking about?"

Nikita laughed. "It is a long story. Pull up chairs, everyone." And Nikita started from the beginning- when Operations asked her to take the mission and why she took it.

"So Michael's son has been alive all these years and he never knew? Operations is one cold hearted bastard." Birkoff stated.

Madeline and Walter were surprised at his language. Nikita chuckled. "Birkoff!" She admonished him. "He had reason, Birkoff, he wanted to keep the boy alive. That was his mission and he has. No one knows where the boy is now, at least not Michael, Operations, or myself. Rowan may but she will never tell. They will all work it out and Section will function as normal again. Madeline, I'll be out for another two months. I'll be able to start training again in a month but no serious missions for a long while."

Madeline smiled. "I know. I think it's about time you started planning some missions, Nikita."

"Thank you for bringing me home, Michael, and for volunteering to stay with me for a few days." Nikita smiled as they entered her apartment. "But you didn't have to-" She broke off her sentence as she saw all the flowers. There were wildflowers everywhere to greet her. She smiled tilted her head up to look at Michael. "Thank you." She whispered and brushed a kiss on his jaw line. "But you can put me down now!"

Michael laughed and put her down- on her bed.

It was time, Nikita decided two hours later. They had been skirting the topic for three days now- since Rowan had left Section. "Michael, what happened between you, Rowan, and Operations?"

Michael nodded and they sat opposite each other in her living room. "I don't like it but I understand."

"How long has Rowan been Section?" Nikita asked.

"She's been providing a safe house for twenty years." Michael answered.

Rowan's other secret, Nikita knew in that moment, was safe with her.

The End